Two Worlds – The Bean People

Wow, everything is Straight!

We were in Chicago early New Year’s Day hoping to have a clean shot of The Bean (or as some call it, “The Cloud Gate”). The previous post was from the South side, this being from the North side. It was mostly devoid of people who were probably still recuperating from the New Year’s festivities. We did manage to capture some People In The Bean.

OK, imagine if these people lived in a place where everything was wildly distorted (normal to them), and they can visit their Own Bean which provides them with these strange linear views of their City of Chicago! The Bean People would be just as excited to get shots of themselves straight up and down as the Non-Bean Peeps who just love the distortion. Two Dimensions, two realities. M.C. Escher would have loved this sculpture! (Look up Escher and prepare to be amazed…a very early influence).

When the park first opened in 2004, Metro police stopped a Columbia College Chicago Journalism student who was working on a photography project in Millennium Park and confiscated his film because of fears of terrorism. In 2005, the sculpture attracted some controversy when a professional photographer without a paid permit was denied access to the piece..As is the case for all works of art currently covered by United States copyright law, the artist holds the copyright for the sculpture. This allows the public to freely photograph Cloud Gate, but permission from Kapoor or the City of Chicago (which has licensed the art) is required for any commercial reproductions of the photographs. The city first set a policy of collecting permit fees for photographs. These permits were initially set at $350 per day for professional still photographers, $1,200 per day for professional videographers and $50 per hour for wedding photographers. The policy has been changed so permits are only required for large-scale film, video and photography requiring ten-man crews and equipment.

We recall the “No-Tripod Police” in Rome – they explained that if one uses a Tripod, one must be an Artistic Photographer and hence needs to apply for a permit which costs $350 Euros. (European Travellers, buy a Gorilla Pod from a Company called Joby…it is discrete, acts like a Tripod with its multiflex legs and will avoid the gentle reminders of the Photo-Enforcers)